OUR CHILDREN ::
Jamaal
Jamaal was an honor roll student who was voted "Class
Favorite" in the third grade and was being considered
for the gifted program. But, by the end of his fourth
year, everything had changed. Jamaal's grades were
slipping and he was becoming a behavior problem. By
the sixth grade, Jamaal was a frequent runaway and
was arrested twice for stealing.
Finally, at age 13, after failing two grades and accumulating
numerous criminal charges, Jamaal was appointed a Council
for Children’s Rights advocate. After spending
time with Jamaal and reviewing all of his school records,
Jamaal's advocate recommended that the court place
him in a therapeutic foster home and that Jamaal receive
individual and family counseling. Within six weeks
of being out of his mother's home, Jamaal finally told
his foster parents that he was repeatedly sexually
abused by the man his mother married when he was in
the fourth grade.
With the encouragement of his advocate, the court
allowed Jamaal to stay with his foster parents until
his mother could leave his stepfather and begin working
in family therapy to repair her relationship with Jamaal.
Jamaal continues to struggle with male authority figures,
but he is back on the honor role and is rebuilding
his life.
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